The present invention relates containers, more particularly, to a portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device and associated method of using the device.
In today""s modern times, the commuter times are getting longer, and various other automobile road trips are also getting longer. As a consequence, the motorist often finds a need for both heating food and chilling beverages within the automobile. A wide variety of portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance devices is currently available on the commercial market and an even larger number of these types of devices are known in the art of portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance devices, for example, the portable heating and cooling appliance disclosed by Munz and Collins in U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,166; the portable battery operated hot-cold storage unit disclosed by Pullens in U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,727; the vehicle thermoelectric cooling and heating food and drink appliance disclosed by Trachtenberg and Trachtenberg in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,190; the portable beverage dispenser disclosed by Forrester in U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,318; the portable electric water heater for outdoor use disclosed by Alston and Cattron in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,025; and the thermoelectric container disclosed by Kahl and Taylor in U.S. Pat. No. D350,048.
While all of the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device having a generally rectangular box, a hinge, a generally rectangular lid, a locking means, and a power cord, in which the box has a divider wall which defines a partition between a left and a right chamber within the box, wherein the box further includes: an outer shell; an insulation layer; a inner shell; a power input plug; a first heat transfer unit; a first network of cooling/heating coils; a first control knob having a first voltage regulator and a first thermostat operationally connected to each other; a first spigot having a first button and a first drain; a second heat transfer unit; a second network of cooling/heating coils; a second control knob 28 having a second voltage regulator and a second thermostat operationally connected to each other; and a second spigot having a second button and a second drain. This combination of elements would specifically match the user""s particular individual needs of making it possible to to use the device in the method comprising the steps of adjoining, affixing, allowing, closing, disconnecting, grabbing, inserting, letting, lowering, obtaining, placing, positioning, pressing, pulling, pushing, raising, removing, setting, taking, turning, and unplugging. The above-described patents make no provision for a portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device having a generally rectangular box, a hinge, a generally rectangular lid, a locking means, and a power cord, in which the box has a divider wall which defines a partition between a left and a right chamber within the box, wherein the box further includes: an outer shell; an insulation layer; a inner shell; a power input plug; a first heat transfer unit; a first network of cooling/heating coils; a first control knob having a first voltage regulator and a first thermostat operationally connected to each other; a first spigot having a first button and a first drain; a second heat transfer unit; a second network of cooling/heating coils; a second control knob 28 having a second voltage regulator and a second thermostat operationally connected to each other; and a second spigot having a second button and a second drain.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device having a generally rectangular box, a hinge, a generally rectangular lid, a locking means, and a power cord, in which the box has a divider wall which defines a partition between a left and a right chamber within the box, wherein the box further includes: an outer shell; an insulation layer; a inner shell; a power input plug; a first heat transfer unit; a first network of cooling/heating coils; a first control knob having a first voltage regulator and a first thermostat operationally connected to each other; a first spigot having a first button and a first drain; a second heat transfer unit; a second network of cooling/heating coils; a second control knob 28 having a second voltage regulator and a second thermostat operationally connected to each other; and a second spigot having a second button and a second drain. In this respect, the portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a means for making it possible to use the device in the method comprising the steps of adjoining, affixing, allowing, closing, disconnecting, grabbing, inserting, letting, lowering, obtaining, placing, positioning, pressing, pulling, pushing, raising, removing, setting, taking, turning, and unplugging.
The present device and method of using, according to the principles of the present invention, overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device and method of using are disclosed. The device comprises: a generally rectangular box, a hinge, a generally rectangular lid, a locking means, and a power cord. The box has a divider wall which defines a partition between a left and a right chamber within the box. The box further includes: an outer shell; an insulation layer; a inner shell; a power input plug; a first heat transfer unit; a first network of cooling/heating coils; a first control knob having a first voltage regulator and a first thermostat operationally connected to each other; a first spigot having a first button and a first drain; a second heat transfer unit; a second network of cooling/heating coils; a second control knob having a second voltage regulator and a second thermostat operationally connected to each other; and a second spigot having a second button and a second drain. The hinge is attached to the outer shell of the box. The lid is dimensioned to substantially fit over the top of the box, in which the lid is attached to the hinge, whereby the lid is pivotally attached to the box. The locking means is for locking together the lid to the box, in which a first portion of the locking means is attached to the box, and a second portion of the locking means is attached to the lid. The power cord has a first socket end and a second socket end, in which the first socket end is operationally connectable to the power inlet plug of the box, and the second socket end is operationally connectable to a standard cigarette lighter power output in an automobile. The method of using the device comprises the steps of adjoining, affixing, allowing, closing, disconnecting, grabbing, inserting, letting, lowering, obtaining, placing, positioning, pressing, pulling, pushing, raising, removing, setting, taking, turning, and unplugging.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known type portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device, which will be described subsequently in great detail, is to provide a new and improved portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a generally rectangular box, a hinge, a generally rectangular lid, a locking means, and a power cord. The box has a divider wall which defines a partition between a left and a right chamber within the box. The box further includes: an outer shell; an insulation layer; a inner shell; a power input plug; a first heat transfer unit; a first network of cooling/heating coils; a first control knob having a first voltage regulator and a first thermostat operationally connected to each other; a first spigot having a first button and a first drain; a second heat transfer unit; a second network of cooling/heating coils; a second control knob 28 having a second voltage regulator and a second thermostat operationally connected to each other; and a second spigot having a second button and a second drain. The hinge is attached to the outer shell of the box. The lid is dimensioned to substantially fit over the top of the box, in which the lid is attached to the hinge, whereby the lid is pivotally attached to the box. The locking means is for locking together the lid to the box, in which a first portion of the locking means is attached to the box, and a second portion of the locking means is attached to the lid. The power cord has a first socket end and a second socket end, in which the first socket end is operationally connectable to the power inlet plug of the box, and the second socket end is operationally connectable to a standard cigarette lighter power output in an automobile.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution of the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include a gasket attached to the top of the box. There are of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device that has all the advantages of the prior art portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such multipurpose storage unit and system economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thererof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a portable thermoelectric cooling and heating appliance device having a generally rectangular box, a hinge, a generally rectangular lid, a locking means, and a power cord, in which the box has a divider wall which defines a partition between a left and a right chamber within the box, wherein the box further includes: an outer shell; an insulation layer; a inner shell; a power input plug; a first heat transfer unit; a first network of cooling/heating coils; a first control knob having a first voltage regulator and a first thermostat operationally connected to each other; a first spigot having a first button and a first drain; a second heat transfer unit; a second network of cooling/heating coils; a second control knob 28 having a second voltage regulator and a second thermostat operationally connected to each other; and a second spigot having a second button and a second drain, wherein the hinge is attached to the outer shell of the box; wherein the lid is dimensioned to substantially fit over the top of the box, in which the lid is attached to the hinge, whereby the lid is pivotally attached to the box; wherein the locking means is for locking together the lid to the box, in which a first portion of the locking means is attached to the box, and a second portion of the locking means is attached to the lid; and wherein the power cord has a first socket end and a second socket end, in which the first socket end is operationally connectable to the power inlet plug of the box, and the second socket end is operationally connectable to a standard cigarette lighter power output in an automobile. This combination of elements makes it possible to use the device in the method comprising the steps of adjoining, affixing, allowing, closing, disconnecting, grabbing, inserting, letting, lowering, obtaining, placing, positioning, pressing, pulling, pushing, raising, removing, setting, taking, turning, and unplugging.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of using comprising the steps of adjoining, affixing, allowing, closing, disconnecting, grabbing, inserting, letting, lowering, obtaining, placing, positioning, pressing, pulling, pushing, raising, removing, setting, taking, turning, and unplugging.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.